What Does “Impressionistic” Mean?
Impressionism is a style of painting that focuses more on capturing the feeling of a moment than on painting every tiny detail perfectly.
Instead of carefully blending every edge or defining every petal, an impressionistic painter suggests shapes using visible brushstrokes, layered color, and light.
It’s about:
- Light over lines
- Color over precision
- Mood over microscopic detail
If you look closely at an impressionistic painting, you’ll often see individual strokes of paint. The magic happens when you step back. Your eye blends the colors and fills in the details. I’m always telling my students to back up to look t their painting to get a better perspective.
One thing I learned while painting these tulips is if you look, the tulip will tell you where to put the petals. Also, I learned to use lots of paint in true colors. I didn’t mix a lot.
That’s one of the reasons this style is so freeing for beginners. You don’t have to “prove” every petal. You can suggest it.
In the tulips above, notice:
- The loose background strokes that create atmosphere rather than sharp edges
- The visible brushwork in the leaves
- The way color variation creates depth instead of tight outlining
Impressionism isn’t about being messy.
It’s about being intentional with light, color, and movement.
Colors I Used
- All shades of yellow
- All shades of red
- All my greens
- All my blues
Brushes I used
- Synthetic flat #4 or 6
- Synthetic round #2 or 4
I hope you’re going to give this one a try. I recommend you watch the video first, then give it a go. I put the drawing on with burnt sienna and I painted on a 5″ x 5″ canvas panel. Of course you can paint on any size or support you’d like. I’m going to do it again in a 10″ x 8″ and probably a 14″ x 11″.
Have a great day and let’s paint together soon.
Sharon